7:35pm EST - Helk just merged the quarry stuff in. Waiting on Jenkins to do his thing then we'll be doing some live first looks and tests from our dev branch server. www.twitch.tv/rustafied/

7:14pm EST - The quarry stuff hasn't merged to dev yet. Still may test that a bit later if it does get in tonight, either way, we're going live from our Hapis tunnel base in half an hour. 

4:10pm EST - The update and devblog is now out! The quarry stuff is due to be on the dev branch shortly. We'll be live streaming the first looks at that once it's up. I know I said I would not be wiping our dev branch server today, however, given the quarries need testing, I will be wiping it once those come in to make sure we have a pristine test environment.

3:00pm EST - Update stream is live! http://www.twitch.tv/rustafied

And here's an update on quarries I just heard from Helk: It will not be in the patch when it first comes out, however, quarries will be merged into the dev branch right after the patch is out so we can test it there for a couple hours. If all is solid, the quarry stuff will be launched live tomorrow.

2:35pm EST - Helk just did some ammo balance:

• Shotgun slug is much more powerful
• Alt ammo types always do more damage than standard
• Damage changes from last week have been slightly reduced

1:02pm EST - Just updated out dev branch server. If you're looking for it and can't see it, make sure you've opted your client into the development branch.

12:54pm EST - Some interesting stuff going on here...

12:35pm EST - The team is still rocking out commits in preparation for this update. Here's some highlights from the past couple hours:

• Arrows / spears no longer block bullets and are easier to pick up
• Reduced lag in large fights
• Water bottle starts with some water
• Low grade fuel costs less cloth
• Candle hat / miners helmet now use fuel and don't break when they run out
• More progress on the quarry (see below)

3:46am EST - Update day is upon us and there are some exciting additions on the horizon. At the moment, much is still unknown about the new items, as they are either not fully implemented or not yet merged. If today is anything like the last several weeks, the update will hit sometime between 4 - 6pm EST (8 - 10pm GMT), so there is still a full day of commits in front of us. I’ll be filling in more specifics as the day progresses and the development branch gets closer to update ready.

There is no forced wipe with this update, however, servers may wipe at the owners discretion (see below for status of Rustafied server wipes). Our live update stream will go live at 3pm EST where I’ll show off the new things coming in the update and answer questions. As always, follow @Rustafied for updates throughout the day.

Quarries

Arguably the most exciting addition this week, of which we know very little about, Quarries are due to make their entrance today. Helk has been working on the mining_survey branch for two weeks now and, as of this moment, we still haven’t been able to sneak a peek.

How will mining work? How much will it cost to build and operate a quarry? What does it yield? How do survey charges work? I don't know, I’m not even sure it’s going to make it into the update at this moment. I fucking hope so though, I'm eager to see how these work in action…

12:35pm EST Update: Helk is still trucking on the quarry functionality. Some interesting things from today's commits:

• A resource deposit manager has been added which randomly spawns resource deposits on the map
• Survey charge spawns a visible resource shower when a deposit is found
• Mining quarry now latches onto resource deposits to extract minerals.

Ok, ok... so it sounds like we'll need to craft survey charger to look for resource deposits, then, once we find one, a quarry can be placed on said deposit. Fucking awesome, can't wait!

Water catchers

Two new items have been added to the construction crafting list: small and large water catchers. These bad boys still need some work, but the general gist is they will gather water for you (duh). Along with the catchers, two new resources have been added to the item list: water and salt water. Catchers are non default blueprints, cost wood and metal frags, and apparently will allow you to drink straight out of them (good cause we ain't got shit to hold water with!). The small catcher holds 40,000 ml of water; the large, much more (but the specific amount is unknown at this point). More to come on these as it comes to light.

New water

Speaking of water, Diogo has merged his new water branch. I was a bit skeptical when I first saw it yesterday, however, turns out a post merge fix just was needed, making the water look a whole shitload better. The waves are more natural, shallow waters have a gorgeous teal gradient leading into the deeper, darker depths; rivers even flow downhill now! Props to Diogo, he did a hell of a job on this new water system. Here’s some eye candy:

New item info view

Garry has tweaked the item information screen a bit. Here’s a peek:

Bullet flybys

Alex has introduce a very awesome new audio effect: Bullet flybys. You really just have to hear it:

Other sound improvements

Along with bullet flybys, Alex has tweaked several other sounds. Using a bandage sounds slightly different, doors have a more natural sounding squeak when opened and a heavier thud when they are shut (although it is a bit wood sounding when coming from an armored metal door), and airdrops sound like they are actually coming from a plane with propellers as opposed to a supersonic jet. As icing on the cake, there are some new ambient noises too, aiding you in keeping cool as you hear all the bullets whizzing by your head.

Wolf headdress

Xavier added the textures and models for this gruesome new fashion accessory earlier in the week, however, the actual item has yet to be implemented. I’m hoping it makes it in before the update, it looks pretty badass:

Rustafied server wipe info

To answer the top question for players on our servers, here’s what's so with map wipes after the update:

• Main - The map will wipe
• Low pop - Will not wipe
• Hapis - Will not wipe
• Dev branch - Will not wipe

No blueprint wipes are planned for the foreseeable future.

New faction collaboration tool

You may have noticed a new button on the main navigation. This links to our community site, rustaforum.com, where we just invested in a new collaboration tool for factions. It gives each faction their own private forum and calendar, along with the ability to manage members and their roles. If you have a faction on Rustafied, or any other server for that matter, feel free utilize this tool.

Live update stream

We’re at it again, starting at 3pm EST (7pm GMT), we’ll be going live from our dev branch server to show off and answer questions about what’s new this week. Once the update hits, the stream team and I will head back to our tunnel on Hapis, to hopefully mine with quarries and tango with rival factions. Follow Rustafied on twitch to know exactly when we go live.

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